Clonal analysis of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains from intercontinental sources: association of the mec gene with divergent phylogenetic lineages implies dissemination by horizontal transfer and recombination.

Abstract excerpt

Genetic relationships among 254 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus resistant to methicillin recovered between 1961 and 1992 from nine countries on four continents were determined by analyzing electrophoretically demonstrable allelic variation at 15 chromosomal enzyme loci. Fifteen distinctive electrophoretic types, marking clones, were identified. The mec gene is harbored by many divergent phylogenetic lineages...

Topics

• Enzymes
• Genes, Bacterial
• Genetic Variation
• Genotype
• Humans
• Methicillin Resistance
• Phylogeny
• Recombination, Genetic
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Transfection